
John J. Moser
News DirectorI’m deputy director for news at LehighValleyNews.com and have been a reporter and editor at newspapers in Pennsylvania and North Carolina for nearly 40 years. I spent more than 30 years at The Morning Call in Allentown as a reporter, copy editor and editor, and for 12 years was its music critic and entertainment writer. I’ve captured more than two dozen statewide and national awards for writing and editing, and was part of a team of reporters in North Carolina that was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Contact me at JohnM@lehighvalleynews.com or 610-984-8183.
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Maren Morris, whose debut single "My Church" sold double platinum and hit Top 5 on the Country chart, then had a six-times platinum pop hit with "The Middle," and four-times-platinum "The Bones," and will play Wind Creek Event Center at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16.
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Turning the Tide, a Nazareth-based band that has played festivals and nightclubs from Killington, Vermont, to Key West, Florida — including in Boston and Atlantic City — will open the May 8 show.
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Lukas Nelson, son of country music icon Willie Nelson and leader of the popular country-rock band Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real, will perform Friday, July 18.
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Elvis Costello, whose career bridged punk and new wave music with mainstream, will perform with his band The Imposters at 8 p.m. Sept. 8 at Wind Creek Event Center, it was announced. Joining him onstage will be guitarist Charlie Sexton, who hit the Billboard chart with his own album in 1989, then toured with Bob Dylan and recorded with Lucinda Williams and Shawn Colvin.
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Costas Alestas, 44, of Palmer Township, entered the plea before Northampton County Judge Samuel P. Murray. He admitted guilt to charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and invasion of privacy, according to the Northampton County District Attorney's Office.
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Eric Hutchinson's new Best Of tour stops at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks at 7:30 p.m. tonight, April 23. Tickets for the show, at $40 (some areas are sold out) remain available at the SteelStacks website.
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ArtsQuest’s Ginvitational: A Celebration of Cocktails will return to SteelStacks for a fourth year on June 8 in Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center, it was announced.
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To arrive at emergency scenes faster and well-staffed, Upper Macungie Fire & Rescue in Lehigh County has launched a staffing incentive program that will pay "qualified and trained" volunteers to cover 12-hour shifts.
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The series of 10 Wednesday night movies will begin May 21. Families are welcome to bring lawn chairs and blankets to the Levitt lawn for the films, which start at 6:30 p.m.
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"The Book of Mormon," which has grossed nearly $1billion, making it one of the most successful musicals of all time, will return to the theater for three performances Sept. 27-28.
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The event, which features trucks 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide sitting atop 66-inch-tall tires, will have sessions at 7 p.m. Feb. 21; noon and 6 pm. Feb. 22; and noon and 6 p.m. Feb. 23.
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The Darkness is on a U.S. tour that stops Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Tickets, at $45.75 and $48.05, remain available at the Archer website.
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The Tilghman Street exit from Route 309 — an intersection that averages more than 77,000 vehicles a day — will have new traffic patterns starting Monday.
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra will return to Allentown's PPL Center with its The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO & More show on Friday, Nov. 21, it was announced.
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A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at David and Jackie Jaindl Family Birth and Newborn Center at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
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The Bacon Brothers play Zoellner Arts Center's Baker Hall, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7.
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Top country band Old Dominion plays Allentown's PPL Center at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4. Tickets, at $49.70-$187.95, remain available at the PPL Center website or the box office at 701 Hamilton St., Allentown.
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Country singer Kane Brown's concert headlining Allentown Fair's grandstand Friday showed not only that it's real enough to connect with fans of both genres, but really good, too.
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Country rock group Alabama on Thursday played a record 10th headlining show at Allentown Fair grandstand (it first played there 42 years ago).
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Heart's headline opening night of Allentown Fair's grandstand on Wednesday wasn't the typical 50th anniversary blowout, but seemed more an acknowledgement of the band's triumph.
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John Fogerty, who with the group Creedence Clearwater Revival sold 30 million albums — 13 of which sold gold or platinum — will perform his Legacy Tour at 8 p.m. Nov. 8.
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With Allentown Fair opening its 173rd year today, music critic John J. Moser has 25 years of reviewing grandstand shows behind him. These are the best he's seen, ranked in order.